Judith
by curlymonic1215
Summary: She was growing up so fast, and she was more and more like her namesake everyday. What happens when the unthinkable happens to Joan and Adam's daughter and will they be able to cope with their feelings or crumble from the devastation?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Own none of these characters with the exception of Joan and Adam's daughter

She smiled as she watched the video for the billionth time, listening as each word was spoken by the sweet and innocent little girl on screen.

"What's your name baby?" came her voice off screen, laughing as her daughter made her infamous face.

"Mommy you know my name! My name is Judith silly!" exclaimed the little girl, laughing and giggling as her father came into the view, grasping her from behind and spinning her like an airplane. It was her favorite game.

"Adam, I'm trying to film her. You're interrupting the process," came her voice again, a laughing tone to it and she couldn't help the tears that formed.

"Oh yeah, asking our 5-year-old what her name is. Real thought provoking questions Jane," said Adam, putting the girl down and heading towards the camera, the scene going blurry for a moment and the sound of laughter in the background.

"Mommy, you got to finish the interview!" came a demanding 5-year-old and though you couldn't see it, Joan nodded, regaining fixture of the camera on her daughter.

"Do you know who you were named after honey?" asked Joan and Judith nodded eagerly, liking that she knew the answer to this one.

"Uh-huh! I was named after a friend of yours and daddy's from when you were younger but she is up in heaven now with God. You told me that mommy!" said Judith and now the tears strolled freely down her face as she continued watching the video. _That's right baby. That's right. _She whispered now, even though the interview was long over.

It had been so many years since Joan's teenage years, and yet it always seemed so close by. Judith was growing up so fast and she was more and more like her namesake every day. She was wild and crazy, always full of optimism and energy. She was just like Judith had always been before.

She still saw Judith from time to time, in her dreams. She still felt the connection between her and God, even though it had been years since she'd "spoken" to him. She took her daughter to church regularly though and Judith was currently enrolled in Sunday School for children her age. It wasn't how Joan or even Adam was brought up, but she felt it important for her daughter to feel some sort of connection to God, even if she, unlike Joan when she was younger, couldn't really see him.

"Jane?"

The voice startled her and she turned around quickly, sighing in relief when she saw it was just Adam. He came over towards the couch and sat down, pulling her close to him and brushing back her hair.

"You watching this again?" he asked softly and she nodded slowly, allowing Adam to support her, falling against him, suddenly feeling exhaustion. It was, after all, three in the morning.

"I know you miss her Jane. I know how close you guys were and how tough it is this time of year for you. Just stay strong," he whispered and she nodded, her body beginning to shake with sobs. Just stay strong. It was the one thing Judith had always told her in her dreams.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

Both parents turned towards the stairway at the sound of their daughter's voice, Joan rubbing quickly at her eyes and going over towards Judith, Adam following closely behind.

"Judith, what are you doing awake honey?" asked Joan, quickly picking Judith up. wondering if she had just heard Joan and Adam talking. It wasn't like Judith to wake up in the middle of the night.

"I couldn't sleep. I think I had a bad dream," she said, putting her arms out towards Adam to take her. Joan handed her over, quickly pressing a kiss to her daughter's head and heading back upstairs.

"Come on buddy, let's get you back in bed," said Adam, following Joan upstairs. Something was different with Joan lately. He only wished she would let him help her for a change instead of holding the emotions to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

_Joan stirred slightly, waking up to find Adam missing from the bed. She moaned slightly in exhaustion, wanting to just fall back asleep. She could hear something coming from the other side, a shadow sitting in the chair in the far corner of the bedroom seemed to be humming to something._

_"Adam?" she question quietly, wondering what he was doing awake at this hour. She looked at the alarm clock, 5am. They both still had another two hours before they had to wake up._

_"You're awake," came a voice, not Adam's voice, from the chair. Joan shot up from bed, startled at another voice, only to calm slightly when she realized it was Judith's._

_"Judith? What…what are you doing here?" she asked quietly, getting out of bed and walking over to her friend._

_"You're doing an amazing job with her," said Judith, nodding to the picture of Joan's daughter and Joan sighed._

_"You think? Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice and Judith put down the picture, putting her hand on Joan's arm, the gesture bringing tears to Joan's eyes._

_"I really miss you Judith," she said, the tears slowly beginning to fall and Judith got up from the chair, pulling her friend into a hug._

_"I miss you too Jo-Jo, but you can't let the pain get to you. You have to stay strong, if not for anything else then for Adam and Judith," she said softly and Joan nodded into her friend's chest._

_The two were silent for a moment more before Judith stepped back and took another look at Joan._

_"You look good. Judith definitely takes after you with the looks," said Judith and Joan laughed a bit at that._

_"Just remember Jo-Jo, stay strong, always," said Judith and Joan frowned, wondering what it was she had to stay strong about. Before she could ask though Judith had gone through the walls and Joan sighed, yawning slightly before going back to the bed, knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight anyways._

"Jane, can you pick Judith up from school today? I have to work a little late at the studio," said Adam, walking down the stairs and Joan smiled, turning towards Adam and kissing him much more passionately than she'd been the last few weeks. He smiled and returned the favor.

"Good morning to you too," he said into her ear, giving her one last kiss before heading over to the counter.

"Daddy, can I bring Mr. Angel for show and tell today?" asked Judith referring to Adam's newest creation that he had for her. Judith's room was filled with pieces of art that Adam had made for her, and she loved every one of them.

"Of course you can, but you have to hurry because were going to be late," he said, picking her up and twirling her a bit before putting her back down, watching as she ran up the stairs to grab her stuff for school.

"Are you going to be home for dinner?" asked Joan and Adam nodded, grabbing some papers from the counter.

"Yeah, I'll be here," he said, giving her a kiss goodbye before heading out the door .

"I love you," she said and he smiled.

"Love you too Jane. Send Judith out to the car when she gets down here."

Joan nodded before heading back to the sink, finishing up before she herself had to go get ready for work.

"Ms. Rove, there's a call for you on line 2, your daughter's school," said Joan's secretary and she sighed, wondering what it could possibly be. She quickly picked up, thinking maybe Judith just wasn't feeling well or something, although she seemed fine this morning.

"Hello, this is Joan Rove speaking," she said, trying to keep her concern low, not wanting to overreact for something so simple as Judith just isn't feeling well.

"Hi Ms. Rove, were sorry for interrupting your work but we were just calling to remind you that if you could bring a note with a reason for her absence today with Judith when she comes back it would be greatly appreciated," said the voice on the other line and Joan frowned. Absence? What absence? Adam had just taken Judith to school this morning.

"I'm sorry, are you sure were talking about my Judith? Her father just dropped her off at school this morning. I watched them walk out the door," she said, her voice beginning to rise. She tried to remember if she'd talked to Adam after he'd left for work, and she had. She remembered calling him to ask him to pick something up on his way home tonight. He'd already dropped Judith off when she'd called. How could she not be at school?

"Um Ms. Rove, we have no record of Judith coming to school today. She isn't in her class anyhow and nobody has seen her," said the female voice and Joan's heart began to race. Where the hell was her daughter?

"No, that's impossible! Her father just dropped off there this morning! I called him and she'd already been dropped off at school!" she said, her voice rising extremely, in fear.

"Ms. Rove, why don't you and your husband come down to the school as soon as possible and we can figure this out from there," said the voice and Joan could tell they were trying to remain calm, unlike her who was now panicking.

"O-ok. We'll, we'll be right there," she said, hanging up without saying good-bye. She had to call Adam. They had to go to the school. Judith was…Judith was missing.


	3. Chapter 3

She lay down in her old bed, staring up at the ceiling like she had done so many before as a teenager. She closed her eyes tightly, letting the tears fall freely from her face. She could hear Adam just outside her room, talking quietly to someone. She could hear the devastation in his voice. It broke her heart. Everything about this day broke their heart. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She shouldn't be here, at her parents house in her old room, crying. She should be home with her husband, tucking her little girl into bed…oh god, just thinking about it made her sick.

Judith was missing. She was gone. They couldn't find her. Her baby girl was out there somewhere, probably scared and alone, wanting her parents, her family. Oh god, how she just wanted to hold her baby in her arms and tell her how much she loved her.

"Jane?"

Adam's voice was soft, gentle, broken. She could hear the emptiness inside him. It was the same way she felt at that very moment. She could feel the bed shift when he sat down, but she didn't look. She continued to stare at the ceiling. He brushed her hair back, gently placing a kiss to her forehead. She began to shake, harsh sobs escaping her lips, and Adam gently pulled her into his arms, rocking her back and forth, allowing her to cling to him as she cried into his chest. She could feel his own tears falling into her hair and she dug herself deeper into him, wanting so badly to escape this misery she felt within.

"How could this happen to us Adam? How could our little girl be taken from us?" she asked, her tears beginning to choke her as she coughed and Adam slid his hand down her back, rubbing her back in a soothing motion, even though he knew nothing would soothe her, nothing except knowing her child was safe, and that didn't seem to be happening.

"Were going to find her Jane. We can't lose hope. We have to stay strong. We have to stay able to find our girl and bring her home safe and sound. We'll find her Jane. I promise you we will find her," he said and she could feel herself melting further into him, if that was even possible.

They stayed silent for awhile, Joan finding herself incapable of moving from Adam's loving arms. He would protect her. He would help her stay strong and find Judith. He would support her through it all, and she loved him even more for that.

_She found herself in a dark alleyway, the rain pouring down and hitting her skin, a rush of cold going through her body. She looked around, wondering where she was. She didn't recognize this place. She saw the walls of abandoned buildings with graffiti all over them, and then she remembered. Judith. This was where Judith had been stabbed. The memory itself was enough to want to make her sick and she began to turn away, only to stop when she heard a voice, a familiar voice, her daughter's voice._

_"Mommy! Mommy, I'm right here!"_

_Her daughter's voice. Her daughter was here. Her baby was here, right here, and she was talking. She could feel her heart race with joy, looking around desperately in search of her baby._

_"Judith? Judith, where are you? Honey tell me where you are!" she called, her head turning every which way, looking for the familiar figure of her child._

_"Mommy, I love you," came Judith's voice again and Joan's heart was racing faster and faster with each passing second._

_"Judith? Judith please, tell me where you are! Judith, where are you? Judith!" she cried, beginning to race, looking for her daughter, searching for her child._

_"Judith! Judith! Judith!"_

"Joan? Joan, wake up."

She could feel somebody shaking her and she whimpered slightly, her mind caught between dreaming and reality.

"No, no, I hear her. She's here, I hear her," she whimpered and she could feel Adam's gentle hands on her arm, trying to wake her.

She opened her eyes, confused for a moment as to where she was. She saw her mom and dad on one side, her mom holding one of her hands and her father sitting on the edge of her bed. She saw Adam's eyes looking into hers, the red from crying still clear in his eyes, and suddenly everything about Judith came back to her and she began to cry again.

Adam gently pulling her into his arms again, her mother still holding her hand. She turned to her father, remembering that he was the one that told her to come back here. He'd been at the school. He and some other police people. They told her to come here in case, in case something happened. Her dad had told them they'd search for Judith, but that she needed to go home. She remembered protesting, wanting to stay and find her daughter, but somehow they had won, and she'd been forced to sit and wait.

"Daddy? Daddy, did they find her?" she asked and she could tell by the look in his eyes that they hadn't. She began to cry harder, feeling so helpless and scared.

"Were trying baby girl. Were doing everything we can. I promise you we are," he whispered gently, gently kissing her on the forehead and she could feel herself leaning closer into Adam again, allowing him to support her.

"I want my Judith back," she whispered brokenly and she could feel Adam's tears once more, holding her a bit tighter.

"I know you do Jane. We all do."


	4. Chapter 4

She sat numbly at the counter in her parent's house, her mother silently making tea. It was all a blur to her, everything that was going on around her. The police were now onto questioning others at the school that day, hoping for a lead that felt so far away. She could remember, vaguely, her father asking her what Judith had been wearing that morning. _A pink long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. She had on her Barbie sneakers and her hair had been pulled back in pigtails. _Her father had nodded, pulling her into his arms, telling her they were going to find her daughter. She remembered nodding in his arms, letting him hold her. She'd been clinging to them a lot since the disappearance, but nobody said anything. Adam would hold her in his arms for hours, allowing her to find comfort in his arms, if only for that moment in time.

Adam was struggling to stay strong for the both of them. 24 hours had gone by since either of them had seen their baby girl. He talked mostly to Joan's father, trying to keep up with what was happening. Joan couldn't do it. She broke down every time her father approached her for information. She jumped every time the phone rang. Her heart raced every time there was a knock on the door, and every time she'd pray to God that it was someone with news on her baby.

God. The one person who'd helped her through every patch of her teenage years. The person she turned to for every crisis, searching for answers she never received. She'd been praying in her mind ever since she'd gotten the call from the school secretary, pleading with him to keep her child safe.

"Joan? Honey drink this tea. It'll do some good for you," whispered Helen, keeping her eye on Joan. Joan turned away, the thought of putting anything in her stomach making her sick.

"The only thing good for me is finding my daughter," whispered Joan, her voice hollow, and Helen sighed, sitting down next to Joan.

"They're trying sweetheart. They're doing everything they can to find Judith," whispered Helen and Joan nodded, only half listening.

The door opened and Joan's head shot up, sighing when she saw it was only Luke and Grace. The two had gotten married four months prior.

"Hey mom, hey Joan," said Luke carefully, gently touching Joan's arm and she looked up, managing a small smile even though she felt like crying.

"Hey," she whispered, quickly focusing back on the counter.

She looked up again when Adam came into the room, not really listening as he whispered to her mom and Luke and Grace. He came over to her, placing a small kiss on her lips. She could tell he'd been crying.

"You should eat something," he told her gently and she shrugged, stirring the tea her mother had given her.

"I'm afraid it won't digest before it comes back up," she said and he nodded in understanding, allowing her to lean against him.

"Why don't you come with me, to the police station. We'll talk to some people and figure out more about this. We'll be that much closer to finding her," he whispered into her hair and she nodded, distancing herself away from him for a moment as he got up.

"She's strong. She'll get through this and be home before you know it," said Grace, speaking for the first time since she'd gotten there. Adam muttered a thank you to her, but Joan couldn't figure out what to say. Instead she followed Adam out the door, praying that the next time they came in would be with Judith.

A part of him felt like it was all his fault. He had been the one to drop Judith off at school. He had been the one to watch her go into the school, yet somehow she had still disappeared. He should have gone with her to the classroom. He should have…he should have done something, anything. He was supposed to be her father. He was supposed to protect her from things like this, but he hadn't. It had still happened and she was still missing and he still felt like he was to blame.

Adam looked over at Joan as they drove to the police station, hating himself even more as he saw her broken figure. Her eyes were sunken in from exhaustion, lined with the red from crying. He couldn't say he was in better shape either though. They were both living out a nightmare, a nightmare he could have prevented.

"Who would take her Adam? Who would take our child from us?" whispered Joan, her voice telling him she was close to tears again and Adam shook his head, wishing he had an answer.

"I don't know Jane. I wish I did but I don't," he whispered, trying to stay focused on the road and think about this at the same time. It was getting to be difficult to focus on anything when he thought about Judith being somewhere out there, alone and without her family.

The rest of the ride remained silent, Adam noting how Joan's face seemed to pale as they neared the police station. He quietly got out, walking over to her side and taking her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before walking in. They were met at the door by Joan's father who quickly ushered them into a room with a few other officers. Will cleared his throat before beginning to speak.

"We searched the school yesterday and we spoke to the monitors who were in the halls yesterday morning, all in which said they didn't see anything suspicious, and saw no sign on Judith. Were not losing hope though. We have officers out there right now searching the woods and the surrounding premises for any clues. Right now we need the two of you to just answer a few questions and hopefully figure out some more clues," said Will, his heart breaking at the sight of his daughter and son in law.

His granddaughter was out there somewhere. Somebody had taken his grandchild and twenty four hours later they had little clues of her whereabouts. This was turning out to be more of a nightmare by the minute, especially considering the rarity of finding a missing child alive after the first forty-eight hours, giving him twenty four hours more to step up this search and find Judith before the chances of her being found alive slipped dramatically.


	5. Chapter 5

Adam stared quietly out the window, his eyes looking off into the distance. He and Joan had decided to come home for the night and she was currently asleep at the moment. He rubbed at his own eyes in exhaustion, knowing he hadn't even attempted to sleep since Judith's disappearance. He was trying so hard to stay strong for both him and Joan, but it was becoming too difficult. She needed him so much but he couldn't be there for her as much as she needed him to be. He wanted Judith safe so badly, but the more time that passed gave way to the increasingly difficult chances that she was still safe.

Adam could feel himself sliding down the wall, pushing his body up against it, the tears beginning to pour from his eyes. Where was Judith? Why was she not here with her family? It was so cold out there in the dark and his baby girl was out there in the cold, alone, with nobody to comfort her. He hadn't been able to protect her from this. He hadn't been able to stop this from happening. She was his _daughter_, his own flesh and blood, and he hadn't been able to stop this! He was angry and hurt and scared. He was scared for his daughter's safety. He was scared for his wife's wellbeing. He was worried about his own wellbeing. It was too much. It was too much for him to handle.

He closed his eyes, his mind too tired to think anymore. Joan was asleep for the time being, and it was only a matter of minutes or maybe an hour before she woke up from another nightmare. He hated that he couldn't even protect her anymore, hated everything about himself, and he could only hope that his little girl would be returned to them safely and soon.

---

_Joan found herself in the alleyway again, the same dark alleyway that she had heard Judith's voice before. Her mind raced with the possibility of hearing it again._

_"Judith! Judith, please answer me!" she called, wrapping her arms around in the cold. This alleyway brought back so many painful memories of her friend, and now it seemed to bring hope that her daughter, Judith's namesake, could possibly be here, alive._

_"I'm right here Jo-Jo," came a softened voice and Joan whirled around, her eyes instantly meeting Judith's ghostly form._

_"Where is she?" asked Joan instantly and Judith sighed, gently taking her friend's hand, using her free hand to brush back a strand of Joan's hair._

_"It's okay Jo-Jo. You're going to be okay," whispered Judith and Joan shook her head fiercely, stumbling away from Judith._

_"No. No! I don't care about me! Where is my daughter? Where is my Judith? I want my baby!" she cried, tears springing to her eyes and Judith tried to step closer but Joan instantly stepped away._

_"Be strong Jo-Jo. You have to stay strong," whispered Judith and Joan's wiped harshly at the tears, wrapping her arms around herself._

_"Please Judith, please just…just tell me she's okay. Tell me she's safe and alive. Just tell me were going to find her alive. Please Judith," she pleaded and Judith sighed, her heart breaking for her friend. She hated seeing her Jo-Jo like this, but she couldn't help her like Joan wanted her to. _

_"Just stay strong Joan. That's all I can say," whispered Judith before placing a kiss to Joan's forehead, quickly disappearing, and Joan looked up towards the darkened sky._

_"Is this another one of your stupid ways of making me figure this out on my own? My daughter is __**missing!**__ She's gone! And you, you are not even helping me to find her! I __**need**__ you! I need you now and you're not here! You're never here when I need you! How could you! How could you do this to me!" she cried, backing into a wall, falling and beginning to cry, pulling her knees to her chest, her body shaking from the cold and tears. _

_---_

The two partners beamed a flashlight through the woods, looking towards the ground for any clues of the disappearance. He knew this case hit hard for the station, the missing child being the granddaughter of chief Girardi. They wanted just as badly as anybody to find this girl safe.

"Hey Walker, look at this!" came the voice of officer John Walker and he quickly stepped over to his partner, looking at what was in his hands. It seemed to be something made out of a bunch of metal and wires. It didn't look like much.

"What is it?" he asked, taking it and inspecting it a little closer.

"It looks like some sort of doll made out of metal scraps and wire. Look, there's a little tag attached to the leg," said the other officer, taking it back and inspecting the attached piece of paper.

An angel for my little Judith. Love you always, Daddy.


	6. Chapter 6

Joan shut up from out of bed, her breaths coming out in short gasps, her hair sticking to her face, and she whimpered from the force of the dream. She looked to her left, her eyes widening when she didn't see Adam next to her, her heart beginning to race even more.

"Adam! Adam!" she cried, coughing at the force of her words, choking on the now even shorter gasps, trying to calm herself down, finding it too difficult to breathe.

She began to cry as she saw Adam appear in the doorway, collapsing into his arms as he sat onto the bed, and he gently brushed back her hair, calming her bit by bit until only the tears in her eyes gave way to any distress.

"Shh, Jane sweetie it was just a nightmare. It's ok. I'm here. I'm right here," whispered Adam into her hair, his hand rubbing her back in small circles.

"It felt…so real," she whispered, her eyes looking up into his and Adam gently brushed away a few stray tears, kissing her forehead gently.

He continued to hold her for a few more moments, rocking back and forth with her in his arms, only stopping when the phone rang. He untangled himself from her for a moment, still keeping an arm wrapped around her waist as he went to grab for the phone, saying hello and listening to the people on the other end for a few moments, his eyes widening as he heard the news.

"Yes, we'll be right there…yeah, thank you officers. See you in a bit," he said, hanging up the phone quickly and looking over at Joan who looked on in curiosity.

"They…they found something with Judith's name on it. They want us to come down and clarify that it's hers," said Adam softly and Joan's eyes began to widen with excitement. Finally, there was something out there that could help them determine where Judith was, help them to discover exactly what had happened to her daughter, her baby.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" she cried, getting off the bed quickly and Adam smiled, trying to remember the last time he had seen her this happy. He quickly remembered. It had been the morning just before Judith had disappeared.

The two got to the police station in record time, Joan practically running as she hit the doors, shoving them open and glancing around for somebody who knew about her daughter.

"Ms. Rove, over here," called Walker and she went over to him, Adam following closely behind. He brought them into another room, quickly closing the doors and grabbing the metal doll he and his partner had found earlier, showing it to both Joan and Adam.

"I assume this is your daughters? It had her name on it with a note saying love you always, daddy," said the officer, showing them the tag on the foot and Adam nodded numbly, registering that he was seeing the angel he had made for his daughter only a few weeks prior. He looked over at Joan who had tears in her eyes as she nodded.

"Yeah, that's hers," she whispered, a tear spilling over and Adam gently pulled her into his arms, collapsing onto a chair, still staring at the doll the officer held.

"We found it in the woods, close to the entrance. When we examined the piece closer and the surrounding area we…we found traces of blood," he said, almost whispering the last part of that sentence and Joan's eyes widened, her breathing beginning to pick up speed and it took all Adam's control to fight the urge of rising panic and hold onto Joan who was struggling to get out of his arms.

"Did you do a trace or a match or whatever you call it to, to check if it was Judith's blood," he asked, whispering his daughter's name and tears sprang to his eyes, feeling as if he was on the verge of losing it. Joan had ceased her struggle in Adam's arms, her face now buried in his chest, her sobs breaking his heart and he gently began to rock her just a bit.

"Mr. Rove, Adam, we are doing everything possible to find Judith and the tests are running as we speak to see if this matches with Judith, but I can't rest your worries or tell you anything about your daughter. It's been more than 48 hours and we have not a single lead with the exception of this doll. We have officers searching those woods right now, every inch of the woods, and we have cops on the highways and border patrol. Everybody is looking for your daughter and we are doing everything we can to find her," said the officer and Adam nodded, only half listening.

"We know. Thank you officer, for everything, but if you don't mind, I think were going to head home," said Adam gently, gently urging Joan to stand up, unsure of whether or not she'd be able to on her own, unsure even more if he'd be able to on his own.

He felt sick, like some bulldozer had just crashed into him. He wanted to fall against a wall and cry, but one look at his wife told him he couldn't. She was falling apart. She had collapsed in his arms and couldn't stand on her own. He wanted to get her out of here, away from the prying eyes. Until today she'd remained semi strong with hope that her child was alive. Nobody had ever told her they found traces of blood that could possibly be her daughter's.

As they reached outside Joan disentangled herself from Adam's arms, still hold onto his arm to steady herself. She didn't look up at him and he gently placed brushed back a strand of hair, his heart aching even more when he saw the devastation in her eyes.

"Our baby could be dead Adam. Isn't that what everybody is saying? They keep telling us about the forty-eight hour stuff and now the blood and-

Joan broke down again, collapsing into Adam's arms again and he sighed, beginning to rock her again.

"They aren't saying that Jane. It's just difficult is all. Were going to find her baby, I swear to you we will," he whispered and she whimpered slightly, wanting to curl up and die at the moment. Adam had let go of her, turning to talk to Joan's father who had arrived. Her father had placed a small kiss to his daughter's forehead, telling her this wasn't over. She vaguely listened, her eyes focused on the figure she saw standing a little past her father's shoulder.

"Adam, I'll be right back. I just need to be alone at the moment," she whispered and he nodded, reluctant to let her leave his reach but knowing she needed her space.

She walked over to the once familiar face, memories of her past resurfacing and she felt so many emotions as she looked at him, knowing he knew she was behind him and she took a breath before speaking, trying to think straight but knowing it wasn't possible when it felt like the whole world was telling you your only child, your baby, was dead.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," she whispered, and the teenage boy turned around, Joan's eyes meeting instantly with those of God.


	7. Chapter 7

"Do I?" said God, his eyes looking at the young woman standing in front of him. He saw the toll this was taking on her, the swollen, sunken eyes, the limp body, the unkempt hair. This was not the Joan he liked to see, but he knew the reason for it. He, after all, knew everything about everybody.

"She's my daughter, my baby, and Adam and I love her so much. She means everything to us. How could you just take her away like that? How could you destroy our family like this?" she asked, her voice holding hints of anger, tears welling into her eyes.

"Joan, things happen for a reason, and Judith being taken away from you is no different," said God and Joan wasn't sure how to react to that. Was he insinuating that she and Adam were bad parents?"

"What does that mean? How could there be a reason for Judith being taken away from us? Is this just some cruel punishment? Is it?! As if everything you've done to Adam and I in this lifetime isn't enough? You had to take our daughter away from us!" she cried, her voice cracking as tears began to fall more rapidly. She wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to stand on her own, wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to last even.

"The past holds a key to the future Joan. You need to look into the past," said God but Joan hardly listened. All those times she had wanted answers, and now was the one time she depended on the answers, yet he wouldn't give them to her. She deserved answers, and yet they still wouldn't come. She should have known.

_"_This is your fault. You allowed my child to be taken from me! You allowed Judith to go missing! You are supposed to protect people from dangers like this, but you didn't protect Judith. I always believed in you. I always had faith in you. Even after I stopped seeing you I had faith. I, I go to Church. I took Judith to Church and I taught her all about religion and God, but you still allowed her to be taken from her home and her family. What kind of sick freak are you to allow that to happen?" she asked, her eyes glistening with a newfound strength, and she let out a bitter laugh when God stayed silent.

"You know what, forget it! Why should I expect you to do anything? After all I did for you in high school, everything I put myself through for you. I thought…it doesn't matter. I was wrong, and I'll never make that mistake again. I'm done with you. I'm done with this crap you put me through. I don't need your help in finding Judith! I can do it on my own! I never needed you!" she cried, taking a deep breath but refusing to cry. She said nothing as she turned around and headed back over towards Adam and her father, leaving God in the wake of a heartbroken parent.

Helen sighed as she got ready for bed, eying her husband from the mirror. She walked over towards the bed, sitting down and leaning her head against his body.

"Do you really believe there's still a chance she's alive Will?" asked Helen, keeping her voice down even though Adam and Joan were at their house for the night. Will closed his eyes, not wanting to think about the possibility of Judith being dead. She didn't deserve such a horrible fate. No child did.

"I don't know. The way the search is going now, I really can't say anything. The woods are our best possibility, but the blood on that doll was at least one or two days old. Who knows where the sick freak is now," said Will and Helen nodded, silently praying to God to keep her granddaughter safe, just as she had done for the past three nights.

Joan walked silently down the stairs, throwing the towel she'd been using to dry her hair in the washroom. She stood at the doorway of the kitchen, watching as Adam looked through the fridge for food. She had been low n food for days before Judith had disappeared and after, well she'd just never gotten around to going shopping quite yet.

"I think my mom or somebody brought a casserole over," she whispered and Adam turned around, clearly surprised to see her there.

"Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about that I guess. I just figured, we should probably eat something, you know? We really haven't since…," his voice drifted off, not wanting to say the words out loud. It would only make it feel like even more of a reality, and neither of them wanted to face the harsh reality of this nightmare.

Joan sat quietly at the counter, her mind still set on her earlier confrontation with God. Her anger had erupted on the only person she could channel it to. She still felt she was right, but a part of her kept thinking about what he had said. _The past holds the key to the future Joan._ What could that possibly mean? What did her past have anything to do with this?

"Joan, your dad called. He said, he said we should try to find somebody we know that would, you know, take Judith away," said Adam softly, swallowing at the last words. It had never occurred to Joan that the person who did this would be somebody she or Adam knew. She didn't believe somebody that knew them would do this to them.

Joan absently rubbed at her thigh, her hand tracing lightly over the scar that was there. She could see the outline of the place where she'd lost the most blood, the memory of that night suddenly flooding back to her. She remembered Ryan Hunter and how he'd lured her into the woods, leaving her defenseless with nobody. It had been a stupid idea, and yet she'd still managed to defeat him. She, after all, had God on her side, and God was always there.

She'd escaped that night with a scar to remember the battle, a nasty cut on her leg from the stick she'd fallen onto when trying to escape Ryan and his evil ways. That night had been the night she'd defeated Ryan Hunter for good. That night had been her biggest accomplishment. She had fought evil and won. That had also been the last time she'd seen God, until now, until her daughter was missing.

"Jane?" questioned Adam and Joan looked up, her eyes widening when the realization hit her. Suddenly the past seemed to make perfect sense. She dreamt of the alleyway, the doll was found in the woods she'd battled Ryan at, and the place she hadn't thought of was the place she knew her daughter just had to be!

"Adam, we have to go to the woods where you and Grace used to hang out, the woods where you got lost!" exclaimed Joan, shooting up from her chair and heading for the door, only stopping when Adam grabbed her arm lightly.

"Jane, what's wrong? Why do we have to go there?" asked Adam and Joan sighed, grabbing her shoes.

"Because I think Judith might be there," she said, only glancing at him for a moment before heading out the door, knowing he would follow.


	8. Chapter 8

"Why do we suddenly suspect Ryan to be the one who kidnapped our daughter?" asked Adam as he and Joan searched through the deserted woods with nothing but a flashlight. Adam had called Will and within an hours time there were two or three squads in the woods also searching for the missing girl. However no clues were coming up as to whether or not Judith, or anybody for that matter, had actually ever been here.

"I just…I have this feeling, and these are the woods where it all began. This has to be where he would bring her," said Joan and Adam sighed, not understand where this was coming from, but deciding it was best to go along with it. After all, if there was a chance that Judith was here then he was all for it.

"Here, let's search over there," said Adam after a moment of silence and Joan nodded, quickly heading over in the direction he had pointed to.

Hours had passed since Joan had entered the woods and now she and Adam sat quietly in the nearby cabin where she had waited all those years ago for news on Adam, and here she sat again praying that somebody would give her news on her daughter. Unlike Adam though, there was a chance Judith wasn't even here, and that chance seemed to become more and more of a fact as searchers continued to come up with nothing. Joan saw a shadow from a distance, a figure of someone and she quickly got up, making some excuse to Adam before heading over, recognizing the figure as one of the many forms of God.

"So what did you mean? She's obviously not here, and there is no other places to go in Arcadia. Is she even in Arcadia anymore? Is she even alive?" asked Joan, her questions coming out at rapid speed and the person sighed, gesturing for Joan to sit down on the nearby bench with her.

"Joan, you're doing everything you can to find Judith. You and Adam are both doing so well given the circumstances, but I can't answer these questions and you know it. You just need to have faith," said God and Joan let out a bitter laugh.

"Faith? I need to have faith? In what? In you? Because that is really not helping any right now," she said and God sighed, knowing how angry Joan was, and remembering the wrath he'd faced earlier.

"Keep trying Joan. You and Adam are doing all the right things. That's the important thing," said God and Joan groaned, just wanting answers for a change.

"Does Ryan have something to do with this? Is he the one who took Judith?" asked Joan and God got up from the bench, knowing where this was leading.

"Keep trying Joan. You're doing great," said God before he quickly walked away, leaving Joan with nothing more than a wave.

Will drove silently back home, his mind still focused on the events of the night. Nothing. They had come up with nothing. This search was going nowhere and he had to admit that the possibility of Judith still being alive were extremely dim. There was no traces of her with the exception of that doll, and they had searched those woods raw, coming up with nothing more than that doll.

"Radio to dispatch we have complaints of a disturbance on 17th boulevard, nearby residents claimed to hear screaming and somebody crying."

Will sighed, looking to see where he was. He was right down the road from 17th boulevard, and as much as he really wanted to just go to sleep, he knew he ought to take this call.

"Ok, I'm about two blocks down from 17th. I'll be there shortly. I'll call for backup if needed," radioed Will and the radio response came in as affirmative.

He quickly got up the where he needed, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He got out of his car carefully, making sure to have his gun in his pocket.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" called Will, frowning when he got no response.

"This is the chief of police for the Arcadia Police department. Is there anybody here?" he called, walking down the narrow alleyway, chills going down his spine. This place had always gave him the chills ever since the day he'd seen Judith here, bloody and unconscious.

He walked back towards the dumpsters, not seeing anything unusual out in the open. He saw a flash of something from behind the dumpster, beginning to have a feeling of something not being right.

His heart began to race as he saw a definite sign of something, or somebody, lying behind the dumpsters, shining his flashlight on the object or person, seeing a bunch of garbage obviously hiding whatever it was he was supposed to be finding. He swallowed hard as he removed bag after bag of garbage, feeling his stomach roll at what he saw.

"I need an ambulance immediately and bring crime scene investigators now!" he cried as he knelt down next to the motionless child, tears welling into his eyes.

"Hang on Judith. Grandpa's here. He's going to take care of you," he whispered, quickly checking for a pulse to his granddaughter.


	9. Chapter 9

They had found her and she was alive. That was what mattered to both she and Adam at the moment. They'd gotten the call from her father nearly three hours ago and had rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival they'd heard the rest of the story of her condition, but they were determined to focus on the positive. _There was a lot of blood, guys. There were multiple stab wounds to her lower abdomen, along with a fractured skull. Her right arm was broken in two places, her left leg badly bruised. The doctors said she's in critical condition, but they're doing everything they can to help her._ She remembered her father telling them all this when she and Adam had gotten there, but she refused to break down. She had to stay strong. Judith was found and she was alive. She'd stay that way. She was strong. She may be small but she had a lot of fight in that small body of hers and Joan knew she wouldn't give up this fight.

Joan looked up as she felt Adam gently take her hand and she leaned her head against his shoulder, the events of today, and the last week, suddenly beginning to take it's toll. She didn't want to sleep though. She wanted to stay awake and see her little girl. She just wanted to talk to her and hold her and tell her how much she loved her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rove?" asked a doctor as he entered the small waiting room and both Joan and Adam shot up, quickly heading over to where he stood.

"Judith is currently in surgery at the moment, the doctors are trying to stop the internal bleeding. There seems to be a lot of it. I just wanted to let you know what's going on at the moment. The surgery should last about an hour and a half. Somebody we'll come out and tell you when it's done and when you can see her," said the doctor and Joan nodded, glancing a bit at Adam.

"Is she…she's going to be alright, right?" asked Joan softly and the doctor sighed, hating when it was him who had to tell parents stuff like this. It was his least favorite job.

"At the moment I don't know. It's extremely hard to tell, and the results can swing either way. Were trying very hard but because she is such a small girl, the amount of blood she's lost is substantial enough to possibly lose her, but I assure you we are doing everything possible to make sure that doesn't happen," said the doctor and this time Adam nodded, trying to remain positive.

"Thank you," said Adam quietly before guiding Joan back to where they and their family sat.

"She's going to fine guys. Judith is amazingly strong. It's kind of freaky really," said Kevin, trying to lighten the mood a little bit, or at least take the look of fear out of his baby sister's eyes. Joan nodded, smiling a bit and Kevin smiled, glad to know that for a moment that look in her eyes had subsided.

Another two hours had passed before another doctor appeared, Joan snapping out of her semi sleep and heading over, Adam following once more.

"Is she okay?" Joan asked immediately and the doctor sighed before speaking.

"At the moment, she is okay. She's stable for now. They did a blood transfusion to replace the amount she'd lost," said the doctor and Adam and Joan sighed in relief.

"Can we, can we see her?" asked Joan and the doctor nodded carefully.

"She was asking you for you two earlier and she's currently asleep, however you can go in and see her if you wish, but only you two. You may stay with her tonight. We can provide cots and there is a couch in there already," said the doctor and Joan nodded, feeling her dad's hand gently holding her arm.

"Go, see Judith. We'll come back tomorrow morning," he said, placing a kiss to her head and she nodded, hugging him for a moment.

"Thank you daddy, for everything," she said and he smiled, gently brushing back her hair.

"She's going to be fine. She's a strong girl. When she's ready though were going to have to ask her some questions. There are officers down in the alley right now searching, but she's our best source," said Will and Joan nodded, hugging her father one last time.

"I love you," she whispered, and he smiled.

"I love you too baby," he said, suddenly not wanting to separate from Joan, but knowing he had to.

The rest said their goodbyes quickly, thrilled to know that Judith was back and safe at the moment. Joan sighed as everybody left, turning back towards Adam and taking a deep breath before heading in to see their daughter for the first time in a week.


	10. Chapter 10

The sight of her daughter lying in the hospital bed made her stomach churn. All the tubes and monitors and needles, all of them hooked up or connected to her baby girl. The thought made her sick. It reminded her too much of Judith all those years ago, being in a hospital room similar to this and watching as her best friend died. This time though it wasn't a friend. This time it was her daughter.

"She looks so small," whispered Adam and Joan nodded weakly, trying to steady herself as she walked over to Judith's bedside, tears slipping slowly from her eyes as she saw all the bruises, the places where they'd obviously stitched her up, her vibrant brown hair lying lifeless against a pillow, just as her body was also doing.

This was not her daughter. This was not Judith. Judith was lively and energetic, always talking and always moving around. Judith wasn't one to lie so still. She never had been. And yet, here her daughter lie so motionless and still. It scared her.

"I don't think I can do this," she whispered, her voice shaky, and Adam wrapped his arms around her thin waist, supporting her just a bit.

"We can do this. We have to stay strong, for Judith," he whispered into her ear and she nodded, wiping away the tears in her eyes.

She gently grasped her daughter's hand, tracing the lines gently. She watched the steady line on the heart monitor, her mind flashing to the night Judith had died, images flashing of the heart monitor going flat and beeping loudly. She had been so scared that night, terrified even. She didn't understand how Judith could have been alive and happy one moment and die the next. It had never really made sense to her, and now that feeling was coming back.

"It's ok Judith. Mommy and Daddy are here. You're safe now," whispered Joan, leaning down and placing a kiss to her daughter's forehead, moving slightly for Adam to do the same. She knew how hard this hard this must be for him. Judith was his daughter too and he'd been just as distraught as she'd been this past week.

"What's the evidence show so far?" asked Will tiredly, putting his hand to rub at his eyes.

"None. Whoever did this wore gloves because they left no fingerprints," said another officer, and Will sighed, not wanting that to be the answer. Judith was in no shape to answer questions like the one's he'd have to ask her, and no evidence only meant that she'd have to answer even more questions, difficult questions for someone so young like Judith, and he didn't even know what kind of emotional state she was in.

"Don't worry chief, we'll find something. That little girl won't have to do much work," said the officer, sensing Will's nerves and he nodded.

"Thanks officer, but let's get searching. I have a granddaughter to see in the morning," said Will, the thought of seeing his grand baby again bringing a smile to his face.

Joan stirred in her sleep, awakening quickly at the sight of unfamiliarity. She turned slightly, her eyes meeting Adam's sleeping figure and she smiled, the thoughts of the night before bringing a smile to her lips. She eased her way off the couch, going over towards Judith and taking her daughter's hand in her own, pulling up a chair.

She stayed there for awhile, her head resting on the edge of the bed, closing her eyes and beginning to fall asleep, re awoken when Adam woke up, he too walking over to the bed.

She opened her eyes again, smiling up at him.

"She's back. She's alive," she whispered and he smiled, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"That she is," he whispered, pulling up another chair and sitting by Joan, his hands gently brushing Judith's arm.

Joan sat up at a bit as she saw movement coming from Judith's bed, her eyes widening when a small whimper came from her daughter's lips.

"Shh, Judith it's ok. Mommy and Daddy are right here," whispered Joan, gently brushing back a few strands of hair from her daughter's face. Judith's eyes fluttered open slowly, staring for a moment at Joan and Adam before taking a deep breath, wincing as she did so.

"Mommy? Daddy?"


	11. Chapter 11

It felt almost exactly like it had felt when she first held Judith in her arms. All the joy and anticipation you feel throughout the pregnancy, and then the first time you hold that child in your arms and they look into your eyes and realize you are their mother, all the emotion you feel at that moment bursts through your body. That's exactly how Joan felt when she heard Judith's voice that morning.

She and Adam were currently sitting on the edge of the bed with Judith, her head leaning tiredly against Adam and the sight reminded Joan of all the other times she'd seen this same scene, her heart once again becoming overwhelmed with joy. Judith had always been daddy's little girl. She took after Joan in that sense.

"I really missed you and daddy," said Judith softly, and Joan smiled, placing a kiss to her daughter's forehead, being careful not to jostle the bed too much. Judith still seemed extremely sore from all the injuries, and her movement was extremely limited at the moment.

Joan was about to respond but a knock on the door interrupted, Will and another officer walking slowly into the room. Judith's eyes lit up at the sight of her grandfather. She'd seen everybody earlier and she had been ecstatic, and that excitement was still there.

"Grandpa!" she cried, wincing at the amount of energy from her voice, but she shrugged it off.

"Hey sport, how you feeling?" he asked, kissing her forehead quickly and Judith returned the favor, kissing his cheek and giggling as he pretended that she'd given her what was known as a "dog kiss."

"My tummy hurts a little bit, but I don't mind Grandpa," she said and he smiled.

"That's my little princess. Now we have to be serious right now. Mr. Wilson and I have to ask you some questions about what happened, ok? You have to answer them as best you can. Do you understand that Judith?" he asked, his voice leaving no room for joking and Judith nodded slightly, pulling herself a little closer to Adam, suddenly becoming nervous.

"Can mommy and daddy stay with me Grandpa?" asked Judith, her voice soft and Joan looked up at her dad, not even realizing the possibility of having to leave Judith. Will sighed, knowing how difficult this was going to be and he thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah sweetie, they can stay," he whispered and Joan squeezed Judith's hand, allowing her to curl into her when she motioned to move closer to her, being careful of the childlike helmet on her head from the fractured skull, trying to avoid her daughter's right arm. For the first time since Judith awoke she noticed just how badly in shape her daughter was, and she knew that she was about to hear a story she wasn't sure she was prepared to here.

"Ok Judith, I'm going to start out by asking if you know the name of the person who took you," said Officer Wilson and Judith shook her head mournfully, looking up at Joan.

"Can you tell me what he looked like?" asked officer Wilson and Judith nodded, clearly still hurting.

"He had this brown hair like mommy's and he was kind of tall and he had um like brown eyes I think, but I don't remember really his eyes cuz I didn't like looking at him much," whispered Judith, starting to cry and holding her midsection where the stab wounds had been inflicted.

"Judith, do you know where he kept you?" asked Will and she didn't respond for a moment, whether because she was hurting or didn't want to talk about it, Joan couldn't tell.

"I don't know. I don't feel really good Mommy. My tummy hurts a lot," she said, tears pooling into her eyes and Joan wanted so badly to let the questions stop, but she knew her daughter had to answer these. She looked up towards her dad for answers and he sighed, kneeling down so he could be at Judith's level.

"Judith, can you just tell us one more thing. Was who took you a boy or a girl? And did he say anything to you that you can remember?" asked Will, making his one question into two.

"He was a guy. And he said lots of things to me, really bad things that made me cry cuz he would yell at me a lot," she said, tears spilling over and Joan rubbed her back soothingly, wanting to make her daughter's pain disappear.

"It's ok Judith. Sweetie, we can ask you more questions later, ok? Just rest right now," said Will, hating the pain his granddaughter was feeling because of these questions, but knowing they needed to be answered.

He kissed her one last time before saying goodbye to Joan and Adam, smiling as he saw Luke and Grace enter the hospital room as he and the other officer left. He was going to find the man who hurt Judith if it was the last thing he did.


	12. Chapter 12

"I don't want to read anymore mommy," said Judith softly and Joan looked at her concernedly, gently placing a hand on her daughter's hand.

"You feeling okay baby?" asked Joan softly and Judith shrugged, not looking directly at her mom and Joan began to feel worried. Adam had gone on a food run and everybody else had gone with him, leaving Joan and Judith alone for the first time since the disappearance.

"He said he knew you mommy. He said, he said he didn't like you and that's why he took me. He said-

Judith's voice was cut off when she began to cry and Joan tried to keep herself from asking questions, gently rubbing Judith's back, longing to take her in her arms. That seemed to be difficult though given her daughter's current shape.

"Sweetie, what happened? You can tell me honey. You know you can tell me anything," said Joan and Judith's lip quivered reaching her hand out for her mom and it killed Joan to not be able to hold her baby in her arms.

"Mama I want you to hold me!" cried Judith, squirming around, wincing as she did so, trying to get close to her mom and Joan tried to calm her, gently stroking Judith's back, placing a kiss to her forehead.

"Shh, baby, mommy's here. It's going to be ok," whispered Joan and Judith leaned her head into her mother's chest, Joan being careful of the helmet on her daughter's head.

"I want to go home!" cried Judith, wanting to cling to her mother and it broke Joan's heart to see her like this.

"I know. I know. It's going to be okay baby. I swear to you. You're safe now," said Joan, still rubbing her daughter's back.

"I was scared Mama. He hurt me and I wanted you and daddy and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Luke and-

Joan cut her daughter off, gently lifting Judith's chin up.

"Judith, he can't hurt you anymore. You're safe now. Daddy and I and everybody else, were not going to let anybody hurt you again," said Joan softly but fiercely, and Judith's lip quivered once more, placing her head against Joan's leg, Joan quickly grabbing a pillow and putting it underneath her daughter's head.

"I'm here now baby. Daddy and I are both here for you," whispered Joan, soothing Judith's back as she fell asleep once more.

Will sat tiredly at his desk, flipping through more papers, still trying to find any clues to Judith's case. He had nothing. He sighed as his cell rang, smiling a bit when he saw it was Joan.

"Hey honey," he said, wondering what she was calling him for.

"Dad, I know who did it," she said, her voice sounding shaky and Will shot up from his seat.

"Did Judith say something?" he asked immediately and Joan shook her head even though her father couldn't see.

"N-no. She said…she told me that he said he knew me and he didn't like me and…and I think I know who it is daddy," said Joan, her voice breaking and Will could tell she was on the verge of tears.

"Ok, Joan, I'll be right there sweetie. Do you think you can hang on until then?" asked Will and he could hear Joan sniffling on the other end.

"Daddy, this is my fault. I could have stopped him and-

"Joan, where's Adam?" asked Will, walking out of his office and mouthing that he was going to see Judith.

"He…he went on a food run a little while ago and…oh god, what if he's hurt? What if-

"Shh, Joan, honey, I'll be right there sweetie. Now I have to go now but just hang in there okay," said Will, quickly saying goodbye and rushing to the hospital.

He had a lead, and he was going to run with it until he found the person who took Judith.

---

"Jane?"

Adam's voice was soft and he knelt down next to Joan's sleeping form, gently placing a kiss to her forehead and he smiled as she slowly awoke.

"Hey honey. How'd things go?" he asked and Joan sighed, curling up onto his lap as he sat on the couch.

"She said he told her he knew me. She said he told her he didn't like me. Oh god Adam, what if this was my fault?" she asked and Adam frowned, unsure of what she was talking about.

"Honey, who said this? Judith? Did she say she knew who did this?" he asked and Joan shook her head, playing with a strand of Adam's hair.

"It was Ryan. She didn't say it was him but I could just tell. Why didn't I think of this earlier Adam? How could I let this happen? I can't even hold her Adam!" whispered Joan harshly and Adam sighed, brushing a strand of hair away from her eyes.

"Sweetie, what happened to Judith is not your fault. You couldn't have prevented this. Did you call your dad and tell him though?" asked Adam and before Joan could answer he heard a voice from behind.

"Why don't we talk out here you two," said Will and Adam nodded, gently urging Joan off his lap before taking her hand, leading her out the door.


	13. Chapter 13

Will sighed as he knocked on the door, trying to keep his cool. This had been a man he had once trusted, a man who had once worked so closely with the police department. This had been the man he once believed to be one of the better citizens of this town, and now? Now this was the man he wanted to kill.

He had no doubts about Ryan after what Joan had said, about what Judith had told her and her gut feelings. He knew from the past that Joan and Ryan didn't get along. She had once accused this man of burning down churches and synagogues, but back then was when he believed Ryan was good. Here he stood though, nearly ten years later, with a squad of officers behind him ready to take down this man.

Ryan opened the door with ease, stepping back when he saw the officers outside his door. Will noticed movement from behind the door, his eyes widening when a young girl, no older than Judith, came to Ryan's side, hiding behind his leg.

"What is this about?" asked Ryan, his eyes narrowing at the sight of all these officers.

"Daddy, what's going on?" asked the young girl, her eyes holding a look of fear and Ryan sighed.

"Go in the living room and play for a minute Haley. Daddy will be right there," said Ryan, watching as his daughter left the room before stepping outside, closing the door behind him.

"Ryan Hunter, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Judith Elizabeth Rove. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court," began Will as he started to read Ryan his rights, another officer placing cuffs on Ryan's wrists.

"I should have known the little brat would squeal. Listen, I'm not going to cause a scene because I have a four-year-old in there and I don't want her to see me fight. Just…let me call her mother, please?" asked Ryan, his eyes glancing nervously at his surroundings. Usually Will had a heart for these sort of things, but Ryan had just admitted that he was the one who took his granddaughter. He was the one who had caused so much pain to his family and hurt Judith. He had no heart left for this man.

"We have excellent social workers down at the station that can take care of your daughter. We need you to come with us now," said Will, ushering for one of the officers to go into the house.

"Listen man, you have to let me at least say goodbye to Haley. I'm all she has left," said Ryan and Will couldn't help the bitter laugh that escaped his lips.

"Do you know of the pain and suffering you've put my family through? Do you realize that you could have _killed_ my granddaughter!" cried Will, jerking Ryan towards the car when another officer stepped in.

"Hey, let me take care of him. You go to the hospital. See Judith and be with your family. I'll call you if we need you," said the other officer and Will nodded, knowing it was right to let the others take care of Ryan. He was too attached to the case, he couldn't keep his cool with Ryan after what he had done to his family.

He sighed, glaring at Ryan one last time before heading back to his car, off to tell everybody that he had finally caught the man who kidnapped and harmed Judith.

---

When Will arrived he saw Joan, Adam, Luke, Grace, Kevin, Lily, and Helen all in Judith's hospital room, talking and laughing, Judith carefully leaning against Joan. He smiled as he saw Joan's arm wrapped gently around her daughter's waist, laughing at a trick Kevin was showing everybody in the room. Everything seemed almost…normal.

"Grandpa!" squealed Judith as she turned around, grinning at the sight of Will and he couldn't help but smile, walking further into the room.

Joan looked up curiously at her father but Will mouthed the word later to her, knowing that it could wait. Joan was happy again, and he knew she'd be even happier knowing that Ryan was caught and had admitted to taking Judith, but for now he wanted her to enjoy this moment. He could save the other moment for later.

"Grandpa, you can sign my cast on my leg!" cried Judith and Will nodded, placing a kiss to Judith's cheek.

"Hey Judith, you want to hear a story about a time mommy hurt her foot a little bit?" asked Will and Judith glanced up at her mother as Joan's eyes widened.

"Dad, please don't," warned Joan, not being able to keep the smile off her face.

"Well little Judith, it all started when mommy tried to do the laundry…" began Will, telling the story much to Judith's delight. Judith was home. Ryan was going to go to jail. It felt like all their worries had finally ceased, and life could finally go back to how it had been before.

A/n: This is the last chapter, however I am going to add an epilogue and _possibly_ a sequel depending on how much you guys like the idea.


	14. epilogue

"I would walk my own daughter into that school everyday and there would be days that I saw Adam doing the same, walking Judith into school. Every time I saw them it just made me angrier. Joan had rightfully won in high school. She had more than I would ever have in life. I was a lonely kid all my life and I was a lonely and bitter adult left to raise a daughter I have no evidence is even mine. I'm married to a woman who commits adultery every night of our lives, spends her days walking the streets, leaving me to answer questions from Haley. It wasn't fair. I should have won. I had everything to win. She had everything else. She had friends and family who loved her. I had nothing. I wanted to win and she took that away from me. My prized possession of true happiness would have come with that win, and I knew Judith was her prized possession of happiness. I wanted her to lose that. I wanted her to suffer without it. I wanted her to feel as I have felt for all these years I've lived, and I knew taking Judith would do that to her. When I saw her alone that morning, I knew it was my chance. It was then or never. Nobody paid attention in those hallways to a lone 5-year-old girl. So I snatched her. I told her I was taking her somewhere special where her mother and father were waiting to surprise her. I told her that was the reason daddy didn't walk with her that day, just as he had done every other day. And she came."

Joan paused the tape for a moment, taking a deep breath as she did so. It had been six months since the night Judith had been found and six months since Ryan had admitted to kidnapping and harming her daughter. She had always believed that when she won that night in the woods, that Ryan would leave forever. She had never expected him to return back into her life. Then again, she had never suspected he would take his bitterness and anger out on a five-year-old either. She didn't know what to expect anymore. All she knew was that Judith was home safe and sound, and Ryan Hunter was locked up for 10-15 years.

"Jane? It's late, what are you doing down here still?" came Adam's voice from behind and Joan turned around, smiling as he came up to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulder's.

"I was just…remembering," she said quietly, her eyes returning back to the screen, looking at the courthouse she saw. It had been taped even though the trial had been private. She'd wanted it at the time for a reason she no longer remembered. A part of her felt she needed the reminder that Ryan was really gone from her life, at least for the foreseeable future.

"He can't hurt her anymore," he said and Joan nodded, motioning for Adam to join her. He sat down willingly, pulling Joan against him, allowing her to lean her head against his shoulder.

"He could have gotten away with it, if he hadn't confessed that day. We had no evidence against him Adam," said Joan and Adam nodded, stroking back her hair lightly, placing a kiss to the top of her head.

Joan nodded, playing and fast forwarding just a bit to the part she wanted to hear.

"Why did you confess Mr. Hunter? What made you give yourself away so easily?" asked the attorney and it took a moment before Ryan responded.

"Because of Haley. The morning before the cops showed up I was playing with some toys with my daughter and I remember looking at her and realizing exactly what I had done to Joan's family. All those nights of watching the news and seeing the reports of Judith…it never struck me as something that could happen to _my_ daughter. But that morning, everything changed. Haley may not be my biological daughter, and I don't want to ever find out if she is or not. All I know is I love her and that morning, something happened and I just remember thinking what if it had been Haley? What if somebody had taken her from me? What if somebody had done to her what I had done to Judith? I couldn't handle it. I knew what I needed to do. Haley was my pride and joy, but I couldn't raise her knowing what I did to a girl her age. I became sick of myself. I couldn't look at myself. For the first time in my life, I had felt remorse for what I had done to that little girl. And then the cops showed up and, and I knew what I had to do. But I didn't do it for Joan's family or even for myself. I did it for Haley, and I only hope she can forgive me someday."

Joan watched the guilt play out on his face, his eyes downcast as he spoke, and she wondered if his daughter had even gotten the chance to say goodbye. She wondered if he would ever even see his daughter again. She could feel no empathy for him either way. She could feel no feelings except anger and hate towards him. He had been the one, after all, to cause every ounce of misery and pain she'd felt when Judith had disappeared.

Joan looked over at Adam, smiling as he drifted in and out of sleep. She tried to disentangle herself from his grip, trying but failing as he awoke, rolling her eyes as he tightened his grip around her shoulders.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, kissing her gently on the neck and she couldn't help but laugh, placing a kiss on his lips.

"I love you too," she said in his ear, getting off the couch, pulling him up with her.

"I'm going to bed. Care to join me?" she smiled and his eyes went wide, grabbing her waist and pulling her against him, pulling her full weight against him.

"Shh, were going to wake up Judith," she whispered harshly, pulling away and heading towards the stairs, quickly shutting the lights off.

She took one last peak in Judith's room, smiling at the sight of her sleeping daughter. She was home. She was safe. And all was right with the world once more.

A/n:

I would like to thank the following reviewers for all of their support. Without them this story wouldn't be half as much a success as I feel it is. I appreciate each and every review you guys left.

The Rising Phoenix

TJ-TeeJay

JustMe10012001

Charles The Bold

Thank's again guys!

r


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